Damage estimates from the hail storm that pummeled, to name a few things, historic slate roofs, delicate glass sculptures, the Midway sign at Fair Park, and my car. Also, the head of state Rep. Eric Johnson's wife Nakita when a hailstone boulder crashed through his car's sunroof, which might have played some part in Johnson asking Mayor Mike Rawlings today to, you know, get a little state and federal assistance.

Already, damage estimates are creeping toward $2 billion, and that's mainly based on insurance claims. All told, the storm will likely rank as one of the most damaging (dollar-wise) non-hurricanes in the country's history, Johnson noted.

I am very concerned that a number of my constituents and others lack the insurance that would help them to recover from this catastrophic event or, if they have insurance, they cannot afford to pay their high deductibles. in particular, I worry that some of our working families may have lost their only means of transportation when their cars were totaled or sustained severe structural damage to their homes which they cannot afford to repair due to the aforementioned reasons.

I am asking you, in your official capacity as Mayor of Dallas, to formally request Governor Rick Perry to use all of the powers at his disposal, including his power to declare the herein referenced storm a disaster(Johnson's emphasis), to marshal any and all state and/or federal resources available for the benefit of those who were adversely affected by this storm. Please also do whatever else you can to ensure that resources from the city, state, and federal government are made available to those who are not otherwise in a position to recover from this disaster.

No word yet from Mayor Mike's office. He's in Asia with a trade delegation right now, but he's been tweeting like mad about water conservation and chicken recipes, so I'm assuming he's plugged in enough to drop Rick an email. That said, I've never heard of a disaster declaration for a hail storm, but that doesn't mean it shouldn't happen. After all, $2 billion is a shitload of money.